Taiwan's leader said today that his government "will continue to defend Taiwan's constitutional system of freedom and democracy" against "external threats", hours after China announced military exercises around the island.
"The military exercises launched by China are aimed at undermining the state of peace and stability in the region and continuing to use military coercion against neighboring countries, which is not in line with the expectations of the international community," William Lai said via his official Facebook account.
"We are committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and look forward to equal, respectful, healthy and orderly dialogue and exchanges between the two sides of the strait. This is our constant and unchanging attitude," he added.
Lai, who is considered an independence advocate and an agitator by the Beijing authorities, called a meeting on national security attended by his vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, Defense Minister Wellington Koo, and Secretary-General of the National Security Council, Joseph Wu, among other senior officials.
In the Facebook message, Lai said that the Taiwanese government monitors the movements of the Chinese military "in real time" and maintains "full knowledge" of the situation, stressing that the government will "pay attention to public welfare" and maintain "social stability".
The leader also reiterated that Taiwan "is ready to cooperate with China" to seek "shared peace and prosperity" and "provide well-being to the people" on both sides of the Strait.
The comments come after Beijing announced military exercises around Taiwan, called Joint Sword-2024B, which replicate the blockade and seizure of ports and key areas on the island, as well as attacks on naval and land targets.
The exercises involve land, sea, air and missile forces, and are similar to those China carried out last May, also in the Taiwan Strait and around the autonomous territory that Beijing claims sovereignty over.
At the time, the Chinese government warned that it would "take further action" if "secessionist forces seeking Taiwan independence continue to provoke" and until the "complete reunification" of the country was achieved.
Today's action is the fifth time that China has resorted to this type of maneuver since 2022, when it carried out the first of this caliber in response to the visit of the then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan, which infuriated Beijing and raised tensions between the two sides of the strait to levels not seen in decades.
